Tshepi Live

SHARE | Tuesday, 07 June 2016 | By Ontametse Sugar

They have captivated the local live music industry. Tshepi Live Entertainment is a live band that has shown that they indeed have the finest incredible talent. Formed by a University of Botswana Statistics and Economics graduate, Tshepiso Molosiwa the band is a hit for in corporate functions. Molosiwa followed his music passion after falling in love with it when playing his guitar and singing in the church choir. To him music is passing positive energy to people especially when they are depressed, to communicate and touch people’ lives despite whatever feeling they might have and also make an impact in somebody’s life.

Band is born In his university days he joined UB jazz band, which went to perform at the Cape Town Jazz Festival. “When we performed there I fell so in love with music and that was when I later came back and started performing in hotels,” he said. Molosiwa was resident solo performer at Cresta Botsalo Hotel for some time before Gaborone Sun then recruited him and then more restaurants asked for his services. He then decided to form a live band. Tshepi Live Entertainment was started with four performers. They have recently added a songstress, a vocalist and a pianist to the band. Molosiwa always ensures the band is not all about him. As the band they appreciate that the music has grown so much and as such they want to keep up to date with what Batswana appreciate more. He has also realised that there was a niche for more of live bands, and that is why he decided to come up with his with the idea of making it unique day by day.

Professionalism Molosiwa has placed as a priority the welfare of his artists since all of them are full time. He does not want them to feel like it would be better if they were doing something else. “To many people when they see us perform it is entertainment and they are having fun but to us it is a job and the people playing have got babies to feed and things to buy,” he said. Molosiwa said they always try to keep their job as professional as possible, and have invested in the best sound, and it seems to be working really well in attracting fans. He said there is a lot of hard work that goes into their craft, with rehearsing being key. He said in running the live band there is the musical part and the administrative part, something that they do not neglect to ensure that they come up with a good product. He said that to him and all the people that he works with what they do is not a hobby, and they perform almost every night.

Why no album Molosiwa said they are not in a hurry to produce an album – they want to make sure that they have the right sound and are ready to do something that will blow the minds away. Molosiwa has never worked for anyone but went straight into music full time from university. His parents have been supportive. He is focused on his trade and insists he is prepared for every challenge. Molosiwa does not regret his time in school and it was very important because most skills he learnt are the ones working for him in business today.

Team inspired Molosiwa said that he does not care about building his name but is more of a team effort because he believes with others someone can go far and it feels even better on stage to be with other people. He said he specifically chose the people that he has in the band and he wanted to make a group band not a solo band with backup vocals. “We are united in spirit when we play that is what makes our music strong,” he said. Molosiwa’s band does not even play with a laptop but rather they use everything that is played live to give that authentic 100% live feel. Leading vocals in the band are done by Tshepiso Molosiwa, backing and leading vocals by the only female in the group Sindi Mbatha; pianos, keys and synthesisers by Omphile Mooketsi; base guitar by Brian Khuzwayo; drums and percussionists by Motlatsi Motswetla. Their part time violinist is from Germany.